Call it a Comeback

Monday

Jan 21, 2013 at 11:23 AMJan 21, 2013 at 7:04 PM

Ryan Ronan @RyanRonan_KDE

SHELBYVILLE, Mo. - After Knox County had held a solid 20-point lead throughout the first half, it was North Shelby who held a two-point lead with just over seven seconds to play in the championship game of the North Shelby Tournament.

Coming out of a timeout, KC inbounded from the sideline. With Lee Tague having already fouled out everyone in the gym knew where the ball was going. Royce Poore got the ball on the high wing and took a sort of rushed and not very clean looking three, which hit off the back iron and was rebounded by Donavan Edwards, who also had his putback opportunity go off the back iron and the Raiders completed the comeback, winning 57-55.

“It was a tale of two halves, and it’s very disappointing that our kids came out in the second half and let us down on defense like that. We take pride in our defense, our program is built on tough defense and we came out in the second half and didn’t play any defense,” said Knox County head coach Zach Summers.

As disappointed in his teams’ defensive effort as Summers was, his offense also hit the skids. Holding a 37-17 lead at the half, KC was only able to manage 18 points in the final 16 minutes, less than they scored in the first quarter.

What may have been an overlooked turning point in the game is when Tague picked up his third foul midway through the second quarter. Tague went to the bench, and the Eagles offensive approach changed from that point forward. Knox was attacking the basket, getting open looks, and getting to the free throw line. That all changed as the Eagles began to run somewhat of a four-corners offense.

“We talked about before the game, when you play in an environment like this on the road you have to stay within yourself and do the things you’re good at. Tonight we had some kids that when under some pressure started trying to do too much, and we had kids taking shots they probably shouldn’t have taken. We had kids driving to the basket who aren’t able to beat people off the dribble, and we quit looking for Royce,” said Summers.

Tague started the second half on the bench, which may have contributed to some of the Eagles offensive problems carrying over as they continued be passive and didn’t take the opportunity to put the Raiders away.

“It wasn’t really foul trouble or anything, it was our guys coming out and not wanting to finish the ball game. We are too good and too talented to be sitting here at 8-8 and talking about ‘what if’ we put teams away and ‘what if’ we did this and that,” said Summers.

As frantic as the final minutes were, the NS comeback started in the third quarter. They took their first lead of the game at 51-49, just about halfway through the fourth quarter. Then it looked as though Knox was going to reassert their dominance and go back to Edina with a tourney title. The Eagles went on a mini 6-0 run to jump right back ahead, as Poore converted an easy layup when a North Shelby player attempted to save a ball under his own basket. Poore was fouled on the shot, he missed the ensuing free throw but Edwards rebounded and turned it into a four-point possession, and gave KC a 55-51 lead.

Overshadowed was that early in the second quarter when it was looking as if KC would run away with the game, Poore drilled a three-ball that pushed the junior over 1,000 career points.

“Royce is a very special player. This is my second year as a head coach and being able to start my career with a sophomore kid that talented makes my job that much easier. And it isn’t just basketball, he is a great kid and a great student as well,” said Summers.

Poore ended the night with 19 and added six steals and Edwards added 16. Although Summers didn’t think it led to the loss, the KC offense was different when Tague wasn’t on the floor, he added seven before he fouled out. Tague was sent to the bench for good when he turned the ball over and was forced to foul to prevent a breakaway opportunity.

It looked as though the Eagles had finally turned the corner on the 2012-13 season as they had cruised into the finals of the tournament with back-to-back convincing wins for the first time all season.

However, they were unable to make it three in a row leaving Summers frustrated with his team.

“Right now are season is full of ‘what ifs’ and is kind of a waste as of right now as we are 8-8. But we are 4-0 in the conference and we are back here on Tuesday and that’s the one that matters in terms of a conference championship,” said Summers.

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